1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to Near Field Communication (NFC)- and, more particularly, to an NFC apparatus and method that are capable of supporting security modules based on a SigIn-SigOut-Connection (S2C) interface or general security modules, such as contact/non-contact smart cards, in a plug-in fashion.
2. Related Art
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the construction of a conventional secure NFC apparatus 100. Referring to FIG. 1, the secure NFC apparatus 100 includes an NFC unit 110 and the security module 120.
The NFC unit 110 may be controlled by the host processor of a mobile communication terminal or the like, and it communicates with the security module 120 via signals SigIn and SigOut based on the S2C interface. The security module 120 is a kind of Subscriber Identity Module (SIM), and may store authentication information for user identification. The S2C interface was developed by Philips Electronics for the purpose of communication between the NFC unit 110 and the security module 120.
The secure NFC apparatus 100 may be mounted in a portable terminal such as a mobile communication terminal. The secure NFC apparatus 100 may perform the function of a traffic card or a smart card.
For example, a user who attempts to pass through a security gate brings a portable terminal equipped with the secure NFC apparatus 100 close to a main body that is installed at the security gate for entry authentication, and authentication information is transmitted to the main body through the antenna 111 of the secure NFC apparatus 100 to be used for entry authentication. If the authentication is successful, the user can pass through the security gate.
Furthermore, a user brings the portable terminal equipped with the secure NFC apparatus 100 close to a reader for authenticating the amount of charged money, and the user can be allowed to use transportation and pay for shopping depending on whether the authentication by the reader is successful.
However, the prior art secure NFC apparatus 100 supports only the security module 120 that communicates with the NFC unit 110 based on the S2C interface. Therefore, in the case where other security authentication modules, such as a contact smart card core chip based on the International Standards Organization (ISO) 7816 protocol or a non-contact smart card core chip based on the ISO 14443 protocol, are used as the security module 120, the interface specifications of the security authentication modules are not compatible with those of the NFC unit 110. Accordingly, data associated with the modules used (for example, authentication information) is not compatible, so there is a problem in that the management of data is inconvenient.
Furthermore, there has been an attempt to make the NFC unit 110 receive data, such as authentication information, from the outside and the security module 120 manage the data. However, the scheme related to this attempt was not satisfactory. Furthermore, the scheme encountered difficulty in that it is difficult to manage personal information, such as electronic name cards, managed in a mobile communication terminal because the scheme does not support peer-to-peer data transmission and reception between mobile communication terminals.